Schools Three Pair Competition

2000-2001

Another encouraging entry of six schools entered this Competition this year at Eton College. Each team produces three pairs for each round, each of which plays the corresponding pair from the other school in a single game. Over the course of the day each team therefore plays five matches, and the team which has won the most games is the winner.

Eton, Shrewsbury and Highgate all entered strong teams in depth, but Berkhamsted, King Edward's and St Olave's all had at least one very good pair, and so no matches could be taken for granted. Competition was fierce all day, and there were some surprising results at various stages, so the Competition was wide open going into the last round. Eton emerged as worthy winners, winning all of their matches at least 2-1, dropping a point each to the Shrewsbury and King Edward's first pairs and the Highgate third pair. They nonetheless proved themselves to be the strongest team in depth on the day, and this was the first time that they had won the Competition. Shrewsbury finished runners-up by two points and had six good players, but they lost a key match 1-2 to Berkhamsted, whose first pair had an excellent day. Highgate finished third and were a couple short of full strength, but still had a good team, especially at first pair. If they had beaten Eton 3-0 in the final round then they would have won. Berkhamsted won three of their matches overall, losing only to Eton and Highgate. King Edward's first pair had a couple of good wins against Eton and Highgate, and the whole team played gamely all day. St Olave's were well below full strength, but had a couple of their top players, and the younger members played with spirit as ever.

The victorious Eton team were:

Fergus Eckersley (captain), Tom McCall, Rob Wallace, Aki Onitiri, Guy Moore, Charlie Nissen and Eddie Nissen.

C.M.B.W.

Constructed by Mike Fenn
12th September 2001
efa@etonfives.co.uk

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